West Link given the green light to go ahead

The Highland Council welcomes confirmation of the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) by Scottish Ministers which will enable the West Link to go ahead.

The Highland Council
has today been advised that Scottish Ministers have confirmed the Compulsory
Purchase Order (CPO) promoted in respect of the West Link road project.

Negotiations with the
land owners concerned led to the withdrawal of all objections to the CPO saving
all parties the expense of taking part in an Inquiry. The negotiations focussed
on resolving land access and boundary treatment details.

Council has appointed
the Inverness Office of District Valuer Services (DVS) to carry out valuation
assessments for the purchase of the land required for the scheme. The DVS
operates completely independently of the Council and is the specialist property
arm of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

The Highland Council
(West Link Road (A8082), Stage 1 – Various Footpaths, Inverness)(Stopping Up)
Order 2014 was confirmed by Scottish Ministers on 6 August 2015, following a
hearing that was held as a result of two unresolved objections. This
Order relates to various footpaths between the River Ness and Dores Road,
Inverness which will be diverted to allow the West link road project to be
constructed.

Chair of the Planning
Development and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Audrey Sinclair said: “We will
be holding our first Local Community Liaison Group meeting on 31 August. The
purpose of this group is to ensure the local communities are fully informed of
the project and have a forum where any questions can be addressed.
Representatives of local community councils have been invited. We will also be
writing out to local residents with information.”

Provost of Inverness,
Cllr Helen Carmichael added: “The West Link Road will bring a huge number of
benefits to the area, not least reducing congestion in the city centre. It will
also bring the boost of jobs and associated income to the area during the
construction phase.”

Leader of The Highland
Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson welcomed the news saying: “This is excellent
news for Inverness and the surrounding area. We can finally get on with the
work of building the road. The West-Link project will deliver a greatly
improved infrastructure to support the future development, growth and
prosperity of Inverness and indeed the whole of the Highlands.”

Preparatory works
are scheduled to begin next month and further information on the project
timescales will be issued at the start of September.

Notes:

Planning approval for the West Link was issued on the 14th April 2014 following
consideration at the South Planning Application Committee on the 8th April
2014.

Highland Council agreed a total of £55 million allocated funding to progress
the West Link and enhanced sports facilities on 12 March 2015.

The detailed costs of the West Link scheme are reported at £36.6M (at December
2014 prices). This compares to the cost of £34.398 reported in September 2013.

The Council also approved the enhanced sports facilities made possible by the
West Link project. Funding was agreed for the Rugby pitches and facilities at
Canal Parks (£4.1 million) and the redevelopment of Torvean Golf Course (£8.2
million).

Due to the extended construction programme, with works anticipated to be
complete in 2020/21 and applying construction inflation* over this period an
allocation in the capital programme of £43.35m was approved.

The footpath orders were confirmed on 6 August 2015

The West Link will deliver significant economic benefits to the city and
surrounding area. It is anticipated that almost £4 in economic benefit would be
achieved for every £1 spent on building the road alone.

The scheme enables construction jobs and housing development and the revenue
that would bring to the region. Developer contributions of £3.75 million are
anticipated to be received following the development of land for housing

The West Link will also reduce traffic congestion, improve journey times and
support active travel through cycling and walking.

The main construction for stage 1 (east of the canal) will commence in Spring
2016 with completion in late 2017. Stage 2 will be completed in 2020 following
the relocation of the golf course

The existing facilities will be enhanced to provide a community facility
managed by Highlife Highland with completion programmed for 2018.